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STEPHEN  B.  WEEKS 

CLASS  OF  1886;  PHD.  THE  JOHNS  HOPKINS  UNIVERSITY 


OF  TTME 


HE  WEEKS  OQHIECTfflDN 

OF 


970/15:-?  13 


SUISSE 


CO 


LLECFO 


FOBT  FISHER. 


FORT     FISHER. 


Foet  Fisher  -was  stoemed  on  Jantjaey  15th,  1865,  at  3J  p.  m.    At 

10  at  night,  the  foet,   gaeeison  of  2200  men  and  the 

mateeial  of  "wae  weee   sueeendeeed   to  major 

Gen.  Teeey,  commanding  the  United  States 

FOECES. 


FEINTED     FOE    THE    AUTHOE, 
18  6  5. 


KSOWLES    ANTHONY  &  CO.,    PRINTERS. 


FOKT  FISHEK. 


A  PEACEFUL  nation  roused  to  deeds  of  arms 
Has  proved  its  love  of  Liberty  and  Home. 
From  northern  cities  and  from  western  farms, 
At  country's  call,  the  people  cried,  "  We  come !" 

The  unlettered  man  whose  simple  wisdom  swayed 
The  public  mind,  and  bore  us  through  the  storm, 
Has  left  a  name  which  never  more  shall  fade 
Whilst  human  hearts  to  manly  worth  are  warm. 

Poets  and  orators  combined, 

Have  praised  his  wisdom  and  declared  his  worth : 
The  nation  wept  as  we  at  length  consigned 
His  mouldering  body  to  the  arms  of  earth. 

But  of  the  crowning  victory  of  the  strife 
Which  closed  the  gate  to  stealthy  foreign  aid, 
The  brightest  triumph  that  adorned  his  life, 
No  lasting  record  has  as  yet  been  made. 


FORT    FISHER. 

Yet  here  alone  did  fleet  and  army  join 

In  noble  emulation  to  subdue 

Traitors,  who  hoped  a  country  to  purloin, 

And  make  our  boasted  Freedom  prove  untrue. 

Who  would  not  linger  fondly  o'er  a  page 
Of  history,  which  himself  has  helped  to  make  ! 
Who  would  not  wish  that  each  succeeding  age 
Should  learn  his  sufferings  for  his  country's  sake  ! 

Then,  though  my  muse  may  lack  the  genuine  fire 
Which  Heaven  bestows  on  some  more  gifted  son, 
Bear  with  me,  comrades,  whilst  I  tune  my  lyre 
And  tell  how  Fisher's  fort  was  nobly  won. 


'T  was  in  midwinter  that  we  left 
The  dear  delights  of  home, 
And  as  the  raging  waves  we  cleft, 
Those  mountains  of  white  foam 
Tossed  us  like  feathers  in  the  air, 
And  parting  left  a  chasm  bare 
Where  thousand  monsters  lay  in  wait, 
To  treat  us  all  to  Jonah's  fate. 

Prone  lay  the  warriors  whom  in  fight 
No  danger  could  appall, 
Helpless  as  babes  whilst  all  in  sight 
Was  that  great  watery  wall. 

But  when  the  third  night  passed  away, 
The  smiling  sun  broke  forth  ; 


r. 


FORT    FISHER. 

And  anchoring  in  the  tranquil  bay, 
The  army  of  the  North 
Beheld  the  wished  for  land. 

There  the  defiant  fortress  stood, 
And  stretching  miles  ahead, 
Were  sandy  fields  and  stunted  wood, 
Waiting  the  coming  dead. 

Could  that  lone  earth-work  be  the  fort 

Which  kept  a  fleet  at  bay, 

And  treated  like  a  thing  of  naught 

Each  monitor  that  lay 

Shielded  with  iron,  from  her  gunners 

Who  shoot  with  deadly  aim, 

Shielding  herself  the  blockade-runners 

That  nightly  went  and  came. 

Not  such  the  forts  of  which  I  read 
In  school-books  when  a  boy  ; 
Not  such  the  walls  which  Homer  said 
Protected  ancient  Troy. 

But  since  the  time  of  Ilium's  fall, 
And  after  Errard's  day, 
Came  Vauban  to  break  down  the  wall, 
Inventing  ricochet. 

Next  Todtleben  reared  banks  of  earth 
And  wooden  palisades, 
To  conquer  which  our  land  gave  birth 
To  Mac,  the  king  of  spades. 


FORT    FISHER. 

A  hundred  boats  now  seek  the  beach, 
By  skillful  oarsmen  plied  ; 
Full  fifty  soldiers  stowed  in  each, 
Leap  in  the  surging  tide. 

Unharmed  the  General  gained  the  shore, 
And  Captain  Lockwood,  too  ; 
But  me  the  rough  waves  tumbled  o'er 
And  wet  me  through  and  through. 

Thus  Neptune  warned  me  of  the  fate 
Which  I  must  undergo, 
For  timely  warnings  always  wait 
On  those  foredoomed  to  woe. 

That  night,  whilst  sitting  in  our  tent, 
Watching  the  flickering  flames, 
I  saw  a  stranger  omen  sent 
By  Fate  to  General  Ames  : 

A  soldier,  who  at  break  of  day 
Was  wandering  near  the  fort, 
Met  with  a  tame  deer,  in  the  way, 
Determined  to  be  caught. 

With  eye  that  almost  seemed  to  speak 
This  heaven  inspired  fawn 
Pointed  to  where  the  fort  was  weak, 
Then  instantlv  was  gone. 

But  bounding  through  the  devious  way, 
It  sought  the  General's  tent, 


FORT    FISHER. 


And  at  his  feet  exhausted  lay, 
Its  strength  and  courage  spent. 


The  mules  are  flung  into  the  waves 

And  quickly  swim  to  shore, 

Where  crowds  of  liberated  slaves 

Grin  at  the  cabin  door, 

And  of  the  lash  no  more  in  dread, 

Drag  forth  mattress  and  feather  bed 

And  all  the  treasures  most  esteemed 

Of  their  late  planter  lords, 

To  bivouac  the  "  Northern  hordes." 

Concealed  within  the  tranquil  sky, 

The  muse  of  history  comes, 

To  mark  out  those  pre-doomed  to  die 

And  decorate  their  tombs  : 

Comes,  too,  in  less  etherial  dress, 

The  penman  of  her  daughter, 

Known  as  the  Associate  Press, 

Omnipotent  reporter  ! 

No  badge  of  office  he  requires, 

No  stars,  nor  bars,  nor  silvery  leaf; 

But  flashing  lightning  o'er  the  wires, 

He  stamps  a  hero  or  a  thief. 

He  knows  that  millions  of  fond  eyes 

A  few  hours  hence  will  read 
The  record  his  own  pen  supplies 

Of  every  gallant  deed. 
Yet  as  you  see  him  smoking  there, 

Or  moving  tranquilly  along, 


;  FORT    FISHER. 

You'd  hardly  think  that  he  was  heir 
To  Scio's  gifted  child  of  song. 

"lis  the  day  when  our  blessed  Redeemer  arose ! 

'Tis  the  day  when  all  christians  assemble  in  prayer  ! 

Up,  sons  of  the  North,  drive  the  treacherous  foes 
Like  sheep  from  their  vaunted,  impregnable  lair  ! 

The  better  the  day  makes  the  better  the  deed ; 
Ere  sundown  our  flag  must  wave  over  that  fort : 

The  souls  of  the  heroes  in  battle  who  bleed 

Go  straightway  to  heaven,  our  preachers  have  taught. 
There  is  luck  in  odd  numbers,  we  often  are  told, 
And  three  was  the  number  selected  of  old, 
When  the  S.  P.  Q.  R.*  of  Rome  was  unfurled, 
And  the  armies  of  Rome  once  conquered  the  world. 
Three  generals  assembled,  hold  council  to-day, 
To  decide  if  the  fort  we  can  take,  and  the  way. 
Terry,  Comstock  and  Ames,  this  trinity  form, 
Whilst  Butler  is  proving  the  fort  we  can't  storm. 
Says  Terry :  "  My  whole  reputation  I'll  stake 
That  that  fort  by  assault  I  can  certainly  take." 
Says  Comstock  :  "  I  think  the  fact  is  most  clear, 
And  so  Grant  informed  me  when  he  sent  me  here." 
Then  Adelbert  answered :  "  I  only  can  say, 
I  perish,  or  conquer  the  rebels  to-day." 

Now  Curtis  has  marshaled  his  gallant  brigade ; 

A  hundred  sharpshooters  advance  before  these  ; 
Pennybackers's  and  Bell's  next  in  order  arrayed, 

And  two  thousand  sailors  commanded  by  Breese, 

*  Senatus  populusque  Eomanus, 


FORT    FISH  Eli. 

Amidst  whom,  in  vaior  inferior  to  none, 
Was  Bartlett,  Rhode  Island's  invincible  son. 

See  !  Lamb,  like  warrior  clad  in  mail, 
Now  thunders  forth  his  iron  hail ; 
And  as  our  force  approaches  nigher, 
He  pours  his  enfilading  fire 
Upon  their  unprotected  flanks, 
And  decimates  the  staggering  ranks. 

The  tars,  unused  to  tented  field, 
Reluctant,  seem  about  to  yield : 
But  whilst  within  bomb-proof  secure 

The  Southern  soldiers  lie, 
From  rifled  cannon,  swift  and  sure, 

The  hissing  bullets  fly. 
The  strongest  guns,  dismounted  now, 

Cannot,  in  time,  be  set : 
'Tis  certain  death  to  show  one's  brow 

Above  the  parapet. 
Protected  by  the  deathful  shield, 

Boldly  our  troops  advance  ; 
And,  when  the  final  gun  has  pealed, 

The  leader's  practiced  glance 
Sees  that  the  gunners  only  halt 
To  give  us  signal  for  assault. 

Now,  manly  courage  claims  the  right 
To  cope  with  deeds  performed  of  yore 

Now  brave  as  any  christian  knight 
Europe  or  Palestine  e'er  saw, — 


10  FORT    FISHER. 

Heedless  of  bullet,  sword  or  flames, 
Stood  forth  our  leader,  General  Ames. 

Two  hundred  yards  in  front  we  see 

The  minie  rifles  gleaming  ; 
He  draws  his  sword,  cries  "  Follow  me," 

And  none  of  flight  is  dreaming. 
We  rush  into  the  palisade  ; 

The  traverse  soon  we  clear, 
From  whence  the  Stars  and  Stripes  displayed, 

Call  forth  a  rousing  cheer. 

Nine  other  traverses  remain, 

Where,  fighting  hand  to  hand, 
We  leave  amongst  the  slain 

One-third  of  our  command. 

Then  General  Curtis  lost  his  eye  ; 

Then  Bell  was  swept  away  ; 
And  Pennybacker's  wounded  thigh 

Caused  him  to  leave  the  fray. 

The  Hundred  and  Seventeenth  New  York, 

Of  her  seventeen  officers,  true, 
Sees  strewn  along  that  bloody  walk 

The  whole  excepting  two. 

From  traverse  to  traverse,  over  the  dead, 

Our  general  quickly  advances, 
Whilst  harmlessly  round  and  above  his  head, 

The  enemy's  bullet  glances. 


FORT     FISHER.  11 

Two  of  his  aids,  put  hors  du  combat, 

Lie  stretched  upon  the  ground  ; 
And  Dawson,  who  faithfully  followed  his  star, 

Received  here  his  fatal  wound. 

But  the  fort  which  they  said  could  never  be  taken, 

At  ten  o'clock  was  ours ; 
And  the  Southern  cause  at  once  forsaken 

By  the  treacherous  foreign  powers. 

No  more  shall  our  country  employ 

Its  powers  for  self-immolation  ; 
No  more  its  own  harbors  destroy, 

For  Columbia  again  is  a  nation. 

Enthroned  beside  Washington,  now 

Shall  Lincoln,  for  ages  to  come, 
Wear  the  patriot's  wreath  on  his  brow, 

And  smile  on  the  land  of  his  home  ! 


;  ■    .  •  .. 


Vv 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


00032744406 

FOR  USE  ONLY  IN 
THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  COLLECTION 


